Electric cars.

I read yesterday that Nissan are questioning their future in the UK.

"Nissan warns that thousands of North East jobs are in danger because of electric vehicle targets. Automotive giant Nissan has called for “urgent action” to change regulations on electric vehicles that could put its future in the UK in doubt."

 

I cant think of any situation, apart from all out war where governments have pursued anything like this at the expense of jobs and the economy of the country.

If something is better and priced correctly people will buy it, without all the strong arm tactics that governments are trying.

 

It's politicians 'virtue signalling' without any consideration for the effect it will have on people, the economy, or the country in general. It's all and only about "How great are we, saving the planet all by ourselves".

 

Politicians are known for not seeing/imagining/considering the long term effects of their precious policies and in recent years the "sound bite" has ruled supreme.

I don't think the Labour lot are any worse than the Conservatives on industrial policy but certainly know very little about farming lives and agriculture. The whole electric car thing is a minefield of poor resource management, lack of infrastructure, blindness to the ecological and human cost of mining the minerals needed for making batteries and a total lack of understanding of car production from concept to manufacture.

I suspect Nissan is engaging in some political, economic and social blackmail here but it would certainly be a massive blow to the NE if they did end up pulling out. I have 2nd cousins working there whose quality of life has been immeasurably turned around by the opportunities at Nissan and it would all go down the pan if they scarpered.

 

Spot on FC especially with the Goverment’s anti smoking and alcohol policy. After all the Government has a black hole to fill.

 

Any one who thinks electric cars are great should read up on how the minerals are mined. Open cast mines with slave labour including children with no safety breathing equipment. The mines also destroy the infrastructure including contaminating water supplies and locals evicted from the area. But then you do not care as long as you have your lovely new electric car.

 

If the government are not careful they are all going to disappear up their own black hole.

 

Is it an upcycled photocopier, hence the tagline?

 

Electric charging points are still few and far between and apparently the situation in parts of Wales is particularly poor. From what I have heard, hybrid vehicles are still a better choice for many people, but the government is phasing them out too. The infrastructure just isn't there for electric vehicles to be dependable, and the charging points sometimes only work via paying through an app. Talk about exclusionary infrastructure!

 

Wishful thinking @pete !!